Al-Makura: CPC developing model of governance

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Nasarawa State is developing a model of governance as the party has no previous government to serve as a model to learn from, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has said.

Governor Al-Makura who spoke with our correspondent said as the only CPC governor in Nigeria, he wants to be judged by the principles of his party, and should not be expected to act as though he was in Government House to implement programmes of other political parties.“CPC is a brand new party; it had no government before we came in. We have nobody to learn from; no place to learn some ropes to enhance governance. We are beginners in governance, and are developing a model of governance where the people rank first, and their development aspirations are our watchword,” he said.“Virtually everything we are doing is our own initiative as a party, without any tradition in governance, without any orientation, without any model. All we have as our standards are the philosophy and ideals of our party, and the support of the people behind us. That is why our determination and commitment as is manifest in our service delivery, is to make the common man feel like they are the governors, and not the other way round”, Al-Makura said.He said he is not bothered by the invectives and jabs thrown at him by the opposition saying they are part of the few elements in the state that benefitted from the past system which visited misery, hunger and various forms of deprivation on the people of the state.The Governor said he inherited a government that was taking a loan of about N850 million, monthly, to pay salaries of about N700 million monthly. “Two months after we took over, we began the implementation of the federal government approved minimum wage, now increasing our wage bill to N2.2 billion monthly, without borrowing a dime from the banks.“Sometimes, we are lucky to have only about N100 million left after salaries to run government in terms of service delivery, overheads, security, everything”, he said.

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Nasarawa State is developing a model of governance as the party has no previous government to serve as a model to learn from, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has said.

Governor Al-Makura who spoke with our correspondent said as the only CPC governor in Nigeria, he wants to be judged by the principles of his party, and should not be expected to act as though he was in Government House to implement programmes of other political parties.“CPC is a brand new party; it had no government before we came in. We have nobody to learn from; no place to learn some ropes to enhance governance. We are beginners in governance, and are developing a model of governance where the people rank first, and their development aspirations are our watchword,” he said.“Virtually everything we are doing is our own initiative as a party, without any tradition in governance, without any orientation, without any model. All we have as our standards are the philosophy and ideals of our party, and the support of the people behind us. That is why our determination and commitment as is manifest in our service delivery, is to make the common man feel like they are the governors, and not the other way round”, Al-Makura said.He said he is not bothered by the invectives and jabs thrown at him by the opposition saying they are part of the few elements in the state that benefitted from the past system which visited misery, hunger and various forms of deprivation on the people of the state.The Governor said he inherited a government that was taking a loan of about N850 million, monthly, to pay salaries of about N700 million monthly. “Two months after we took over, we began the implementation of the federal government approved minimum wage, now increasing our wage bill to N2.2 billion monthly, without borrowing a dime from the banks.“Sometimes, we are lucky to have only about N100 million left after salaries to run government in terms of service delivery, overheads, security, everything”, he said.